Various types of siding panels have long been used to clad the exteriors of buildings. Polymer based sidings, such as vinyl or polypropylene, have become very popular exterior finishing products primarily due to its relatively low cost and durability when compared to traditional materials such as wood or metal. Fiber cement siding products have also become very popular. In addition, polymeric and fiber cement siding products can also be provided in a wide variety of colors and patterns. Polymeric siding has an advantage in that it is more flexible and forgiving, and hence, will not deform plastically under minor impact loads. Polymeric siding is also easy to machine and cut and can be worked with common hand tools at the construction site.
While the installation of exterior siding panels is relatively straightforward, installing siding as corner structures of the building requires more labor and expertise. Common finishing techniques for siding construction at corner structures involve the placement of corner accessories around a corner structure. For siding panels simulating a clapboard installation, typical corner accessories are corner posts with receiver pockets for concealing the ends of the courses of siding panels near the wall corner. The receiver pocket also allows for a margin of safety in spacing the ends of the siding panels from an abutment to accommodate thermal expansion of the siding panels and protects the end of the wall of the siding installation from water intrusion.
Wooden shingles and shakes are another class of very popular and attractive siding products used in the construction of homes, businesses and other structures. Unfortunately, these wooden products require constant maintenance, and are extremely expensive, as well as labor intensive to install. Further, as noted above, the durability of wooden products, such as those constructed from cedar, lags far behind that of products made of synthetic materials. Because of the popularity of the aesthetics of wood shingles and shakes, a considerable number of synthetic siding products have been created that simulate the wooden appearance of, for example, cedar shingles or cedar shake shingles. These siding products are typically formed from materials such as polyvinyl chloride and polypropylene. There are also fiber cement products available that simulate shale shingles.
Once siding panels are installed onto the exterior sheathing of a structure, it often becomes necessary to place a siding corner piece over the exposed ends of the siding panels. As an alternative to a conventional corner post with a receiver pocket, efforts have been made to match the ornamental appearance of the siding panel with the corner piece appearance, so as to avoid an unaesthetic or artificial looking final structure. Examples include the simulated shake siding corners described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,391 to Epstein, et al. entitled “Simulated Cedar Shake Construction,” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,587 to Shaw, et al. entitled “Cedar Impression Siding Corner, the entireties of both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. Both Epstein and Shaw describe simulated cedar shake siding panels that are attached to the outside walls of a structure and a corner piece that may be used in conjunction with shake impression siding panels to provide the look of a corner having finished shakes with mitered joints.
As the siding installation process proceeds up the wall to the soffit, it will often be the case that a course of siding will need to be trimmed horizontally to the appropriate dimension to fit on the wall. A trim accessory piece is desirable to produce an aesthetically pleasing transition from the siding installed vertically up the wall to the soffit that meets the siding under the eave of the roof. This transition can be provided by installation of a cornice receiver strip above the upper edge of the uppermost siding panel adjacent the soffit area. A cornice molding strip is then installed in the receiver for covering the upper edge of the uppermost siding panel and producing an aesthetically pleasing transition to the soffit.
In cases where a corner post having a receiver pocket is used in the siding installation, the ends of the trim pieces will be concealed within the receiver pocket. However, for more decorative corners simulating shake impressions, such as, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,391 to Epstein and U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,587 to Shaw, there is no pocket to conceal the end of trim. In order to attain an aesthetically pleasing corner of the trim accessory, another approach is necessary.
One approach would be to trim the ends of the cornice molding to produce a mitered corner joint. However, this process is laborious and time consuming and requires special carpentry skills. It also would yield a tightly fitted corner joint that could be damaged by distortion caused by thermal expansion and contraction with dimensional changes of a polymeric cornice molding trim accessory.
Another approach is for the contractor in the field to finish the cornice molding at the outside corner by fabricating a corner cap out of coated aluminum coil and mounting it over the ends of the cornice molding strips at the corner structure adjacent the soffit. This approach, while potentially providing space to allow for a rougher end cutting of the cornice trim and allowing for dimensional changes of the strip, suffers from the need for time, labor, and special skills in metal working to produce an aesthetically pleasing corner cap. Also, an aluminum cap could be susceptible to denting and permanent deformation or other damage or dislodgement by impacts or winds. These difficulties have led some users to avoid the use of siding products that do not employ corner posts having siding receiver pockets and avoiding the use of exposed polymer based cornice molding strips that require a mitered joint finish at the corner.
Therefore, there remains a need for a corner piece that provides the appearance of a more natural termination of the cornice molding trim strip above the uppermost course of a siding installation employing an aesthetic corner piece, and a corner piece that is easy to use and install that accommodates thermal expansion and contraction of the trim strip and is less susceptible to damage or displacement by impacts or winds.